SINGAPORE: Faced with the news that the price of water will increase by 30 per cent over the next two years, Professor Ng Yew-Kwang is of the opinion that the hike should be even larger, to reflect the cost of water production.

“In my view, it’s too little,” he told Channel NewsAsia on Friday (Feb 24). “From an overall economy point of view, we can increase it even more.

“I would prefer at least 50 per cent – if not (a) 100 per cent (hike),” said the Nanyang Technological University economics professor.

Prof Ng pointed out that water prices have not been raised since 2000 – nearly two decades ago. He added that it is also costly to produce water – and how much the public pays has to reflect this.

National water agency PUB earlier revealed that the cost of operating the country’s water system has more than doubled in that time: It cost half a billion dollars to operate Singapore’s water system in 2000, and the amount had gone up to S$1.3 billion by 2015.

The Government also said it would invest more in water infrastructure to meet growing demand and boost Singapore’s water resilience, especially in the face of climate change.

Following the hike, Singapore’s water prices will be on par with European countries like Germany and Denmark, said Prof Ng.

“If you compare internationally, to other Asian cities like Taipei, Hong Kong and Beijing, Singapore’s prices are higher. But if you take into account the income level, then it’s not high.

If you compare it with other European countries, their prices are much higher.”

Professor Ng said that in most countries, water prices tend to be too low, rather than too high, as the public thinks water, which is essential to life, should be free.

“If consumers pay less, then the government will have to make up the difference. Then that means the government has to collect taxes from other sources … That has a disincentive effect.

“As long as the price of water is not more than the price of production, Increasing the price towards cost of production will increase efficiency by encouraging consumers to save appropriately.”

Water prices will be raised in two phases, first in July and again next year.

But Prof Ng said that increasing the price at once, instead of in phases, would be more effective in changing habits.

“If you increase it in two steps, then each step is not very significant,” he said. “People don’t even notice it and will forget about it soon. But if we have a one-step significant increase, then it has a shock effect.”

“If you want to do it in steps, then it should have been increased 10, five years ago. In my view, it’s already too late because popularly, water is perceived to have low prices and hence maybe the Government was hesitant to increase the prices to make the public happy.

“But from a purely economic point of view, water prices should have been increased many years ago.”

Industries that use a lot of water in their operations – like manufacturing and construction – are expected to feel the pinch.

“What businesses are really feeling is not just about the water, but the fact that costs are high and that this is an added factor to increase in costs”, said Mr Kurt Wee, president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises.

He added that the price hike is expected to be passed on to consumers.

“Businesses will price up the costs of their goods and services accordingly. There’s no doubt about that because there’s no way that businesses can keep absorbing costs.

“And we’re in the climate where demand is falling; businesses are experiencing a shrinkage of demand. So I’m quite sure it will be passed down to the customers.”

However, businesses like food court operator Kopitiam will be absorbing the added costs. Water bills for its stall holders are projected to increase by S$30 to S$60.

The company will also encourage stall holders to conserve water. “We are thinking of installing a prepaid meter where they can monitor their water usage, so they are more conscious of how much water they are using,” said Mr Vincent Cheong, corporate communications manager at Kopitiam.

He added that the company has urged stall holders not to increase the price of food and drinks.

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has responded to a letter from the president of the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Teachers Association (PERGAS), asking him to convey to the Israeli Prime Minister concerns of the Singapore Muslim community on the situation in the Palestinian Territories.

In a letter dated Feb 17, Ustaz Mohamad Hasbi Hassan said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that “has been ongoing for almost half a century is regretful and worrying”.

“The Israeli occupation is an exercise that degrades human lives. It has resulted in the loss of lives including children, women and the elderly. The policy to expand Israeli settlements, eradicate Palestinian developments and besiege Gaza violates basic human rights to shelter, housing, healthcare, and education,” he wrote in Malay.

“As Singapore Muslim community and Singapore citizens that uphold justice and harmony, we – and in fact any religion and community – reject any form of tyranny, aggression, and oppression,” he added.

He said the Muslim community here is aware of the Government’s commitment toward resolution of the issue and noted the appointment of Mr Hawazi Daipi as Singapore’s representative to the Palestinian Territories. “We support the Government’s policy and hope that Israel and Palestine will work together towards peace and harmony,” Ustaz Hasbi said.

In response, Prime Minister Lee said in a letter on Tuesday that he fully understands the concerns raised, and reiterated that Singapore is friends with both Israel and the Palestinian National Authority and many Arab countries.

“While the situation is complex and progress is difficult, Singapore has always urged Israel and Palestine to resume direct negotiations and work towards a just and durable solution to this long-standing conflict,” he wrote. “We are convicted that a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, however hard to achieve, is the only way to bring peace and security to both peoples.”

Mr Lee added that he expressed this to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he met him last year, and again while he was visiting Singapore earlier this week. He also explained to Mr Netanyahu why the situation in the Middle East matters to Singapore.

“Singapore fervently hopes for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, which will contribute to a stabler Middle East and indeed a safer world. I thank you for supporting Singapore’s position, which reflects the interests of our position,” he said to the PERGAS president.

SINGAPORE — If data is the new currency in the brave new digital world, there are few places outside of highly-wired Singapore that can boast of such riches.

While knowledge may be power, Big Data is big money: A recent report by research firm IDC predicted that the Big Data and business analytics market would grow globally from US$130 billion (S$182.4 billion) by the end of last year to US$203 billion by 2020.

Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) member Chan Chun Sing noted as much earlier this month, when he made the point that data is a valuable economic resource that allows Singapore to overcome its intrinsic limitations on land, human capital and natural resources. Coupled with digital connnectivity, the rise of Big Data means Singapore should be optimistic about achieving greater success, said the Minister in Prime Minister’s Office at the press conference to launch the CFE report.

Mr Chan added that while every country is keen to jump on the digital bandwagon, what sets Singapore apart is its ability to bring together different stakeholders and execute plans well, and its reputation of trust and reliability.

To this end, Singapore has already launched plans to transform into a Smart Nation, with the Government committing to making more data available to the public as it seeks to get the private sector to play a big role.

In Singapore, the number of mobile phone subscriptions outnumber the size of its total population by about 1.5:1, based on latest official statistics. As such, few organisations here — be it in the public or private sector — possess more data than the telecommunications firms, and they have wasted no time in getting bang for the buck.

From an individual’s profile, commuting patterns, to what he or she is interested in based on online searches, telcos supply a copious amount of anonymised customer data to companies as well as government agencies. In turn, the firms use the data to make big business decisions — such as where to set up new outlets or what kind of products and services to offer, and to who — while government agencies tap on the information to improve policies, programmes as well as services and infrastructure.

Safeguards such as personal data protection laws are in place to protect privacy. Even though identities are scrubbed out, the info that telcos can sell to other private or public organisations is extremely valuable given the insights that can be gleaned from co-relating the different data sets.

All three telcos here — Singtel. Starhub and M1 — provide data analytics services to businesses. In fact, Singtel set up a subsidiary, DataSpark, in 2014 with its internal resources to offer analytics and intelligence.

A wide range of organisations are hungry for the telcos’ data, including the government, attractions operators, as well as companies in the retail, transportation, travel and hospitality sectors.

DataSpark chief operating officer Ying Shao Wei said: “Data analytics allow businesses to find out where and when the crowds go including their home and work locations; see in-depth profiles of their customers, not just numbers of people; and discover patterns in customer location behaviour.” He added that clients use the “derived intelligence about the movement of people, vehicles and freight” to understand their customers’ journeys, improve retail networks and plan outdoor marketing campaigns.

The data has also contributed to better urban planning and public safety services, Mr Ying said.

For instance, public authorities can better marshall resources to ensure public safety, via insights from tracking how crowds build up and disperse, and by detecting anomalies in human traffic flow. DataSpark has also analysed commuters’ travel patterns for government agencies. Cellular data has been used to track, among other things, the number of people on the platforms of MRT stations, and the flow of commuters transferring between different lines at MRT interchanges. The data could then be used to calculate train frequency to minimise waiting times during peak hours, or determine the direction of escalators at MRT stations to facilitate the movements of commuters.

Underscoring the treasure trove of data that telcos sit on, StarHub chief commercial officer Kevin Lim said: “Telcos have data that is truly big data as we have millions of customers and hundreds of thousands of households (that subscribe to services). This data includes profiles, preferences and movement. When correlated, they offer tremendous amount of insights into behaviour and trends be it movement or preferences.”

He cited an example of how a customer that owns a big retail chain in Singapore used big data on people’s travel patterns to determine where future stores should be located. The retailer also used the data to predict which locations would bring in the highest revenues based on human traffic. This information, together with rental data, could be used to help the retailer decide on the final locations of its new stores.

A property developer also used the profiles of shoppers to determine what kind of tenants its mall in the east should have. For instance, if there are younger shoppers, it could potentially have more cafes. This is done by pulling together anonymised data on consumers’ online search or shopping habits.

At M1, government agencies, which are among its customers, have sought insights to improve the accuracy of their planning and “validate their strategies to enhance citizen services”, an M1 spokesman said.

A retail mall, for example, also used the telco’s analytics services to find out the time of the day when human traffic is high, and which entrances, exits or foot paths do most visitors use. Using such data, mall owners or operators can come up with differentiated rental rates, the tenant mix, and optimise maintenance and cleaning resources, the spokesman added.

Around the world, companies are ploughing in more and more investments into data analytics.

A reported published less than a fortnight ago by EY and Forbes Insights found that over the next two years, more than half of the 1,500 global executives surveyed are planning to invest at least US$10 million in data and advanced analytics. Several international companies dabbling in this area have sprung up over the past decade including DataVisor — which helps companies detect frauds before they occur — and Cogito, which claims to enhance the emotional intelligence of phone professionals through behavioral analytics.

The growing industry has opened up opportunities for many companies and start-ups here, apart from the telcos. One of them is homegrown e-commerce retailer and distributor Y Ventures Group.

(An employee at e commerce company Y Ventures Group poses for a photo with a computer screen showing a word cloud on Feb 23, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah/TODAY)

Using data analytics, Y Ventures forecasts trends for retail brands across 28 online marketplaces such as Amazon, Lazada and Qoo10. For instance, if a particular clock brand wants to find out how its competitors are doing, Y Ventures will identify the top 20 best-selling clocks on each online shopping portal. From this, it will find out which is the best performing competitor brand and track its sales volume, as well as predict the demand for its products.

Mr Matt Pollins, a partner at international law firm Olswang, advises companies on complying with the necessary regulatory requirements in handling data. “Every business now relies on data — whether it is banks who use data to monitor for cyber security incidents, or television companies who use data to establish what kind of programmes people most enjoy watching,” he noted.

The trend has been driven by an increasing amount of data, and better analysis and processing tools. “There is more data than ever before because there are more ways to collect data – millions of online interactions every second, more connected devices than ever before, and countless sensors on those connected devices. There are better ways to analyse and process that data because of cloud computing,” he said. In the past, servers and systems lacked the scale and sophistication to carry out complex data analysis, he added.

Mr Pollins said that ownership and privacy are the key considerations when it comes to legal and regulatory issues surrounding big data. “Some data is proprietary, which means it is protected from copying by others without consent of the data owner,” he said.

“We see organisations monetising their proprietary databases in this way. Meanwhile, some data is personal data — which means that it is protected by privacy laws such as the PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act) in Singapore. Increasingly, in big data, we see an overlap between proprietary and personal data.”

Under the PDPA, various rules govern the collection, use, disclosure and care of personal data. Organisations may use such data, but only if it has been anonymised and any personal identifiers of customers stripped away.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE PUBLIC

While private companies are reaping the rewards from big data, consumers arguably stand to benefit too — more directly in certain sectors, such as healthcare for instance.

Fullerton Healthcare sieves through millions of medical transactions at public hospitals to flag any spike in cases of a particular chronic condition such as diabetes in geographical areas, for example. Working with private companies, Fullerton Healthcare would then suggest an intervention strategy such as an education campaign to try and reduce the number of cases. It did this successfully with a company, where 70 per cent of claims were from 10 per cent of employees who suffered from chronic diseases. After it designed a chronic disease management programme for the company, the number of claims dropped by 60 per cent, and led to reduced sick days as well, said Fullerton Healthcare CEO Ted Minkinow.

Similarly, healthcare technology startup RingMD has collected medical data to improve services for patients. For example, it is currently using big data to improve the way its chatbot interacts with patients. Its CEO and founder Justin Fulcher said: ““We’re using machine learning technology to make our health chatbot smarter, so that she can provide instant, personalised medical information.”

The company has also collected medical data such as heartrate and body temperature, from tracking wearables that patients put on. Using this data, it generates insights which are then provided to patients, to help them improve their lifestyles and health.

As for customer service software company Zendesk, it has a variety of services that enable companies to gain insights from what their customers say or do. For instance, it can track how their customers navigate the websites, or analyse chat conversations to look at what customers are dissatisfied with.

In Singapore, it has 800 corporate customers spanning across industries such as education, retail, telecommunications and real estate.

Zendesk Vice President of Engineering (Asia Pacific) Brett Adam said: “We find patterns in big data and use it to predict outcomes, such as if a conversation with a customer will end up with him being satisfied or not, or answer their questions automatically before agents can get to the customers. Our clients also analyse the data to track responsiveness, whether they are doing a good job responding to their customers, or how satisfied they are with the services they are getting.” Their clients may also use the insights to improve their products or services, he added.

In the public sector, the Government is a big user of data analytics, with data scientists at the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) using data to solve a variety of problems. So far, this ranged from resolving the mystery glitch that affected services on the Circle Line, to helping the Housing and Development Board (HDB) improve its services.

(GovTech Data Science Division consultant Daniel Lim poses for a photo on Feb 23, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah/TODAY)

Dr Daniel Lim, a GovTech data scientist, said: “We work closely with other government agencies to identify problem statements, and apply data analytics to derive actionable insights that could improve policy and operations. We do this in several domain areas, such as healthcare, transport, social policy and enforcement operations, to drive evidence-based decision making in the public sector.”

While GovTech works with various government agencies, it has deployed data scientists at three government organisations: The Ministry of Social and Family Development, The Ministry of Manpower, and SPRING Singapore.

For example, SPRING has started since two years ago using data analytics to track how its various schemes are doing, in the hope of improving them. “We track different kinds of data for management reporting and governance. This includes resource utilisation and the take-up rate of different schemes for local SMEs. The insights we gain using data analytics tools facilitate ongoing improvements and policy reviews such as our business grants. Ultimately, this benefits our people to do their job better and the businesses we assist,” said Mr Wong Ming Fai, SPRING’s chief information officer, who is attached to SPRING from GovTech.

Earlier this year, HDB started allowing new home owners to book an online appointment for their key collection. This was done after GovTech worked with HDB to analyse over 90,000 emails, and found out there was a cluster of feedback related to key collection appointments set by HDB. Dr Lim noted that government agencies receive millions of emails from citizens, “which provide a rich treasure trove of information about their concerns”.

He said: “Text analytics enables public officers to make sense of all these feedback and obtain insights into key issues that matter to citizens. By doing so, we can respond to these issues more proactively.”

Following its collaboration with HDB, GovTech has built a prototype text analytics platform, which is being trialed at several government agencies to enable public officers to use text analytics in their work, without needing to know how to code.

Even for the telcos, there is scope to do more as technology advances, with the end consumers at the heart of the efforts. These include using big data analytics to improve and offer more personalised services to consumers in the multimedia and entertainment space, said Singtel’s Mr Ying.

“The larger telcos are investing in advanced capabilities to build a 360-degree view of their consumers using wide-ranging data sources and compute and storage technologies. They could also use such capabilities to partner or help other enterprises and government agencies to address their analytical needs,” he added.

SINGAPORE: National serviceman Izz Akmal was saving up to buy a bigger motorcycle. But after the recent changes to the motorcycle tax system that make it more expensive to get that high-end bike, he said that his plans to upgrade his Gilera VXR has been stopped in its tracks.

“I’m pretty sure that my chances of getting a bigger bike are rather slim,” the 24-year-old said. “Now I really plan to extend my COE already.” The certificate of entitlement (COE) for Mr Akmal’s motorcycle expires in September.

Dealers told Channel NewsAsia that they too, are feeling the pinch.

“Sales-wise, definitely negative for the big-capacity bikes. Hopefully we see an increase in the small-capacity bikes or the mid-tier,” said distributor Eugene Mah.

Mr Mah’s company, Mah Pte Ltd, makes 20 to 30 per cent of its sales from big-capacity motorcycles.

“Because we deal with mostly the mid- or the high-ends, the majority of our customers are in the second tier,” he said, referring to motorcycles with open market values (OMVs) of between S$5,000 and S$10,000.

“I know that overall, of course, there’s the first tier – hopefully they do benefit from this new scheme, but judging from today’s COE (prices), it may not be the case.”

Mr Mah said he and other dealers were surprised to see COE premiums go up on Friday (Feb 24) in the first bidding exercise since the new system was announced.

He attributes this to panic buying – customers wanting to get a motorcycle before changes to the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) kick in.

He added that his company might increase prices “marginally” and that the ARF changes might result in a smaller variety of motorcycles being brought into Singapore.

“There are some models that have had their prices increased so drastically that they may not be brought in, due to it not making business sense to bring in the bike anymore,” he said.

MORE THAN HALF OF NEW MOTORCYCLES UNAFFECTED: LTA

In response to queries, the Land Transport Authority said the new ARF system has been “carefully calibrated” to ensure that more than half of newly registered motorcycles will not be affected by the changes.

According to LTA figures, of the 8,336 motorcycles registered in 2016, 63 per cent – those that come under Tier 0 – would not have had to pay any additional ARF.

(Source: LTA)

“The 19 per cent in Tier 1 would pay up to S$1,750 more,” LTA said.

“Of the top 18 per cent of motorcycles in Tier 2, with OMV above S$10,000, only seven motorcycles in 2016 would have had to pay more than S$20,000 more in ARF based on their OMVs of more than $30,000.”

LTA pointed out that the OMV of such motorcycles is equivalent to that of a Honda Odyssey 2.4 EXV-S CVT.

It added that popular motorcycle models such as the Yamaha Jupiter T150, Honda CBF190WH and Yamaha FZN 150 would not be affected. These are motorcycles with OMVs of under S$5,000, and whose new owners will continue to pay the current 15 per cent in ARF.

(Source: LTA)

In the 2017 Budget, it was also announced that motorcycles will no longer be part of the COE quota in the open category, or Category E.

Some have called this a silver lining. Mr Mah, for one, says this would mean more supply – something customers would welcome.

But ultimately, he said he also hopes the authorities can further tweak the system.

“Now you have guys who do not sell their bikes because buying a new bike is just too expensive – they’ll renew (the COEs),” Mr Mah said. “Smaller bike capacity buyers will still carry on buying because they need it, and the guys who used to be able to afford a big bike may have to downgrade to a mid-tier one. So this will actually drive the demand for COEs, and if the supply is not increased substantially, it’s just going to be a cycle.

“We are trying to appeal to the authorities, and trying to see how as much as possible – not to transfer the cost over to the consumers,” he added.

SINGAPORE: The air quality in the vicinity of the Tuas chemical plant that caught fire is within the normal range, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Friday (Feb 24), noting that people who were nearby at the time of the fire had noticed a chemical odour coming from the plant.

During the fire, the chemicals that were stored in the plant were contaminated with waste, including solvents, oil sludge and other industrial waste, said an NEA spokesperson in response to queries from Channel NewsAsia. She added that the waste may have been “volatised” when burnt at a high temperature.

“However, they are transient and become quickly diluted as they disperse in the air and are unlikely to be a cause of concern.”

NEA added that air quality measurements taken in the vicinity of the plant during the fire showed that the air quality was within the normal range.

In addition, the air quality records from NEA’s monitoring stations in Tuas and Jurong showed that the air quality was in the normal range, the agency said.

Since the fire, air quality measurements taken in the vicinity and at the monitoring stations have remained in the normal range. The agency added that its officers will continue to monitor the site and its vicinity.

Water samples taken from drains in the vicinity had pH readings between 5 and 7, which is slightly below the normal range, NEA said.

Separately, water agency PUB told Channel NewsAsia that its officers inspected nearby sewers and found them to be operating normally. They also collected samples of used water from the sewers for analysis.

PUB added that preliminary checks showed that there was some damage to the drain walls and railings of a section of the outlet drain along Tuas South Avenue 7, and that repair work would be scheduled after a more detailed assessment.

An eyewitness told Channel NewsAsia that he saw the fire spread through a canal.

(Photo: Lee Li Ying)

It took 200 firefighters four hours to put out the massive blaze on Thursday.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force is still investigating the cause of the fire.

NEA added that it is working closely with the company – Eco Special Waste Management – as well as other government agencies to review the company’s processes and safety procedures.